DonorsChoose.org: Help Teachers in New Jersey and across the Nation fill their Wish Lists

In addition to writing about all things food, I also write about life as a Mom to two crazy boys and a corgi on NewJerseyMomsBlog. This year, NJ Moms Blog and all of our sister sites are promoting the Donors Choose campaign.

Donors Choose is a simple way to provide students in need with resources that our public schools often lack. At this not-for-profit web site, teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn. These ideas become classroom reality when concerned individuals, whom we call Citizen Philanthropists, choose projects to fund.

This one caught my eye (wonder why) and I had to share it with you.

Cooking up a very SPECIAL education!!

The smells, the sights, the sounds, the actions – and, OH, the taste!! Cooking is a total sensory experience. But you’ve never TRULY cooked till you’ve done it with a group of 3 and 4 year old preschoolers with special needs. To the children with Down Syndrome, it’s a wonderful motor lesson. For the children with Autism, it’s a marvelous social lesson. For the children with Developmental Delays, it’s an incredible language lesson.

We must have a refrigerator in our classroom in order to keep up with these extremely beneficial cooking projects.

Your donation would enable our program to carry on with our weekly cooking projects. More importantly, your donation would put smiles on the cutest little faces you’ve EVER seen!! Thank you sooo much!

My students need a classroom refrigerator to participate in cooking activities. The cost of this proposal is $448, which includes shipping for any materials requested and fulfillment.

In this classroom, cooking does more than just put food on the table. If you feel moved to help with this project or a New Jersey based project, it is a great way to give and get so much in return. Every donor receives photos and a letter from the classroom they helped and no amount is too small. We all know how hard some of our poverty stricken districts have it (one teacher is asking for chairs) let’s take a few minutes out of our day to click for a good cause.